Adele Jones lives in Queensland, Australia. Her writing is inspired by a passion for family, faith, friends, music and science – and her broad ranging imagination. She has had a variety of poems, short stories, magazine articles, devotions and meditations published. Her first novels are due for release in 2014.

Question 1: What was the first story you ever wrote and has it been published?If I remember correctly, the first novel length story I wrote as an adult was about a lottery winner who swiftly discovered that money truly can't buy the best things in life. It has never been published (and that's probably a good thing).

Question 2: What is your favourite part about being an author?Those moments when the ideas all come together and a story just pours itself out on the page. Oh, and going to conferences and meeting other authors. It's great sharing the journey with those familiar with the path and learning from their collective wisdom.

Question 3: What is the hardest part about being an author?When life gets busy and I get hardly any writing (or anything else) done. It's like the ideas build up in my head and I get a bit antsy because it's like keeping track of all these thoughts in my head at once. (Always important to have a note pad on hand to jot them down before they run wild! ☺) I also find those writing sessions when it's just plain hard work writing anything half decent really frustrating. That said, I'm a great believer in "something is better than nothing" and know that eventually the ideas will start coming if I persist.

Question 4: What do you do for fun?Lots! In addition to writing, I'm a mummy and wife, a musician, a science geek, a people person, and I like sports, so I've got plenty of things to choose from.

Question 5: What was your favourite children's book when you were a kid?I was an avid reader as a child, so there are too many favourites to choose from. As an animal lover who was horse mad, I LOVED stories like 'The Silver Brumbies' series by Elyne Mitchell. I also loved historical fiction and non-fiction; classic titles by May Gibbs (Snugglepot and Cuddlepie); Anne of Green Gables and other stories by L.M. Montgomery. Lots and lots!

Question 6: Have you met anyone even more famous than you that was exciting?Famous? LOL! Only my daughter thinks I'm famous, so that leaves every other famous person I've ever met to choose from. I have had opportunities to "meet" (i.e. goofy two second conversation) a couple of my favourite musicians, which was pretty cool, but I've not met very many famous people. Not really. That said, a work related event last year did include a brief introduction and shake of hands with Professor Ian Chubb, Australia's Chief Scientist. (He came across as a very pleasant, well informed man.) I've also been at a conference keynote address by Nobel Prize winner Professor Barry J. Marshall. Okay, so that's not meeting him, but I was so excited I couldn't wipe the smile off my face! (By some miracle I did manage to refrain from waving from the audience – just.)

Question 7: What writing genre do you like to do the most?I like writing generally and perhaps one of my faults as an author is my propensity for writing across a variety of genres. But it is fun. I find historical fiction particularly satisfying due to the amount of research involved and the challenge of putting together all the puzzle pieces to form a whole, then knitting them into a story. That said, science fiction can also be like that, and being a science geek is kind of handy when writing in that genre.

Question 8: What do you consider your biggest achievement?That's a really hard question. When I was a child I used to think it was pretty momentous when I'd gain the trust of a wild kitten or manage not to get thrown when my pony would get in a strop and pull a swift move on me! (I did mention that I was an animal lover...) As an adult it's harder to pinpoint a particular "biggest" moment. I suppose it's probably those occasions when I've stepped out of my comfort zone or taken up a challenging task and it all comes off. This is something that never gets old, whether it be a parenting experience; a successful result for a large project; or a performance that just works! I think if we stop doing things that are a little bit scary, then we miss something in life. The best moments often turn out to be the ones that are shared and the most satisfying journeys usually start with a leap of faith.

Question 9: Where do you see the future of children's books (ebooks/apps/print)Hey, I'm still getting my head around iPads/tablets, let alone apps! (Oops, am I not supposed to admit that in public?) Having had a little play with an app, I think it's cool what can be done, but I also love the feel of a book in my hand and being able to flip back to favourite places as required, which you can't do with an e-book. (Although my daughter did demonstrate the "go to" function on my Kindle when I was bumbling around the other day trying to go back a few chapters. She's only used it a couple of times...)

Question 10: What book are you reading right now?I'm a repeat multi-book reading offender. As such, I'm currently reading (or trying to read...) 'Parentless Parenting' by Allison Gilbert (it looked interesting); Creative writing by Adele Ramet (how could you go wrong with a name like that?); 'The seven habits of highly effective people' by Stephen R. Covey (I'm beginning to suspect that effective people don't try to read five books at once...); 'He still moves stones' by Max Lucado; and another book I've downloaded onto my kindle, the name of which currently escapes me (clearly life altering...).

Worse, since beginning these books I've started and completed several others, including 'The Self Leadership of the One Minute Manager' by Ken Blanchard, Susan Fowler and Laurence Hawkins; and 'Persuaded by the Evidence' by Doug Sharp and Jerry Bergman (great book – do read it if you haven't yet). Let's face it; I'm walking evidence for the time management fallacy we refer to as effective multi-tasking!